1954: Quebec
Tax Dispute.
Tax Dispute.
Since Quebec is the only province in Canada
which bases its jurisprudence on the Code Napol챕on, Quebec's Premier Maurice
Duplessis believes this allows him prior rights in (provincial) income tax
amounting to 15 per cent of federal taxes. Duplessis wanted all the provincial
levy deductible from federal tax bills. Canada's Prime Minister St. Laurent
allowed only 5 per cent to be deductible and as a result Quebeckers had to pay a
double tax of 10 per cent.
In a speech given in September St. Laurent attacked Duplessis' policy,
saying the real issue was Duplessis' continuing feud with the federal
government. He rejected federal aid for Quebec universities; he refused federal
grants to build the Trans-Canada Highway in Quebec; and he was the only premier
who refused to sign a tax agreement with Ottawa.
Several weeks later Duplessis and St. Laurent came to an agreement.
Duplessis would submit a definite proposal to Ottawa, probably agreeing to lower
provincial tax rates to 7.5 per cent. Ottawa would then raise the deductible
limit to 7.5 per cent and thus wipe out Quebec's double tax. Duplessis will
withdraw his claim of prior rights in income taxation.
By-Elections.
On November 8, two by-elections were held, one in St. Antoine, Westmount,
in which the successful candidate was George Marler, Liberal; the other in St.
Lawrence-St. George, in which the successful candidate was Claude Richardson,
Liberal.
in which the successful candidate was George Marler, Liberal; the other in St.
Lawrence-St. George, in which the successful candidate was Claude Richardson,
Liberal.
New Iron-Ore Development.
In August, at Seven Islands, the Iron Ore Co. of Canada sent its first
load of iron ore from Quebec's Ungava iron fields.
Half a century ago geologists were sure iron ore lay buried beneath the
lichens of Ungava but there seemed no practical or profitable way of moving it.
In 1942 James Timmins, a Montreal gold-mining magnate, decided to take the
challenge. It took 12 years, more than $250 million, and 7,000 men to make his
dream come true. He raised more than $10 million to survey the Ungava property
and had to prove the ore was of sufficiently high grade (50 per cent or more
iron content) to be attractive to steelmakers. They were able to block out 400
million tons, assaying nearly 60 per cent iron, and to estimate that there are
at least another 600 million tons in the area. With the help of George Humphrey,
president of M. A. Hanna Co. of Cleveland, the Iron Ore Co. of Canada was
founded. A 17-plane airlift, flying as many as 96 flights a day, began
transporting men and freight into the Ungava wilderness to lay out town sites,
build power plants, and dig ore pits. Bulldozers scraped a network of roads out
of the rugged ground. Docks for ocean-going ships were built. A 357-mile private
railroad was pushed across rivers and through mountains from Seven Islands
northward to the mine site.
lichens of Ungava but there seemed no practical or profitable way of moving it.
In 1942 James Timmins, a Montreal gold-mining magnate, decided to take the
challenge. It took 12 years, more than $250 million, and 7,000 men to make his
dream come true. He raised more than $10 million to survey the Ungava property
and had to prove the ore was of sufficiently high grade (50 per cent or more
iron content) to be attractive to steelmakers. They were able to block out 400
million tons, assaying nearly 60 per cent iron, and to estimate that there are
at least another 600 million tons in the area. With the help of George Humphrey,
president of M. A. Hanna Co. of Cleveland, the Iron Ore Co. of Canada was
founded. A 17-plane airlift, flying as many as 96 flights a day, began
transporting men and freight into the Ungava wilderness to lay out town sites,
build power plants, and dig ore pits. Bulldozers scraped a network of roads out
of the rugged ground. Docks for ocean-going ships were built. A 357-mile private
railroad was pushed across rivers and through mountains from Seven Islands
northward to the mine site.
In August the whole project was completed. Nine 100-car trains a day
roll from the mine to the Seven Islands docks, and iron ore is sent to
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. By 1957, about 10 million
tons of ore a year will be coming out of Ungava's veins.
New Power Projects.
The Iron Ore Co. of Canada plans other vast new projects, including
development of the estimated 4,000,000 hp hydroelectric potential of Hamilton
Falls; the establishment of a new aluminum smelting industry using the power
from Hamilton Falls; and a continuation of the Quebec North Shore and Labrador
Railroad from Schefferville through to Fort Chimo.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Area and Population.
Land area, 594,860 sq. mi. Census, 1951, 4,055,681; June 1, 1954 est.,
4,388,000. Quebec, cap., 164,016 (1951); Montreal, 1,021,520; Verdun, 77,391;
Sherbrooke, 50,543.
Government.
Legislative assembly, 92 members (67 Union Nationale, 22 Liberal, one
Independent, 2 vacancies). Lieut.-Governor, Hon. Gaspard Fauteaux; Premier,
Maurice Duplessis. Finance. Ordinary revenue (1952-1953 fiscal year, in Canadian
dollars), $283,617,541; ordinary expenditure, $254,729,722.
Production.
Gross value of agricultural production (1952), $472,292,000; cash
income from sale of farm products, $386,000,000 (including, principally,
livestock, $125,328,000; dairy products, $127,974,000; forest products,
$46,589,000; poultry and eggs, $35,951,000; fruits and vegetables, $10,980,000;
maple products and honey, $7,751,000. Gross value of products of pulp and paper
industry (1951), $524,164,254. Value of mineral production (1952), $270,739,552.
Total value of fur production (est., 1951-1952 season), $2,343,787. Gross value
of products of industrial establishments (1951),
$4,916,157,419.
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